[superman]
2007-06-20 08:23:48 · 13 answers · asked by kittana! 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
No. Easy to see how Hitler was so influenced by Nietzche, isn't it.
It's also ironic that Nietzche became so dependent on the empathy of others at the end of his life.
2007-06-20 08:35:39 · answer #1 · answered by SCOTT 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The answer to this question is going to hinge a lot on what, exactly, you mean by 'empathy'. You can see already by the range of answers that many people mean many different things by it.
If you take empathy to mean something along the lines of 'a means of accurately determining what another person feels', then I don't think even Nietzsche would consider that a weakness. Extra senses and perception can only be strength. This could be the empathy of a con-man... BECAUSE he knows what you want and how you feel, he is much more able to get what HE wants. This kind of empathy requires no strength at all, just perception and intelligence.
If, on the other hand, you take empathy to mean a SHARING of other people's emotions, then yes, that IS a weakness. Why it is a weakness is simple: you cannot control what other people feel. Some people react to generousity with anger. Some people people react to love with hatred. And some do not. A person who is forced to feel the feelings of other people must either accept being in a chaotic world he cannot control or surround himself with only the small subset of humanity that is agreeable to him.
NEITHER condition forces any particular kind of action, no matter what other people may say. Some people see an injured man, feel his pain, and are motivated to sooth it. Others simply avoid the man to avoid sharing the pain. Some who share others' feelings feel obligated to constantly conform or manipulate the affections of all around them, becoming nothing or a puppetmaster in the process. And even some people who feel nothing of what others do choose to help anyway for other reasons.
Empathy never MAKES you a good person. Some of the worst are actually some of the MOST empathic (some say Elizabeth Bathory liked to torture people was to share pain that to her was enjoyable), and some of the best are actually some of the LEAST empathic (Mother Theresa often criticized other nuns who showed sympathy in any way to sufferers). So it goes.
2007-06-20 09:39:24 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, for Nietzsche, what you're talking about... it isn't an all or nothing deal.
Pity - this kinda 'I'm so glad it's not ME who's suffering' - is what Nietzsche calls the worst of all human emotion. It is a false empathy rooted in narcissism and self obsession. Nietzsche finds this ugly and stupid.
Whether or not Nietzsche thinks empathy in all circumstances is weakness - this is a more muddy issue, and there could be a debate here. Nietzsche wants people to interact authentically beyond good and evil - part of this is empathizing with the other. I think that Nietzsche might say that empathy always might put one in a disadvantageous position, but ultimately, there is a certain surrender to being in the power of the other that Nietzsche understands as being an important and authentic way of being with others - this might show up in his account of the Dionysian, in intoxication... You are overcome by the other. You recognize in the face of the other a common condition in being a person. When in love, you are ravished by the other.
To what extent to I agree with this? I feel that in one way, Nietzsche's absolutely right. Empathizing with another always puts you into a disadvantageous position in terms of power, and further, might be nothing more than self deception. BUT I understand that it is important and necessary to surrender to the other - in good faith, in love - so that at the end of the day we know we're not alone.
2007-06-20 09:47:58 · answer #3 · answered by !@#%&! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The very nature of being the superman is to overcome weakness, not to muddle in it. Being superman is a state of mind that humans overcome weakness from within. It doesn't mean that one would lack empathy. Instead, to maximize your full potential and overcome weaknesses sometimes you have to be a hardass in order to improve.
2007-06-20 09:18:56 · answer #4 · answered by ycats 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nietzsche is wrong. Empathy is a beneficial ability. Without it we can not function correctly as having been made in God's image!
2007-06-20 19:41:23 · answer #5 · answered by Fuzzy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I believe that a LACK OF empathy shows weakness. It takes much courage and strength to allow yourself to feel, experience and carry someone else's suffering. Also, to empathize is to feel (which most people are not comfortable with), while a lack of compassion shows numbness (an easier emotion to deal with).
2007-06-20 08:30:00 · answer #6 · answered by TwinkaTee 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Screw Nietzsche!!!
Empathy is the one-thing that requires an exceptionally strong person. especially as human race now runs on fear. think about it.
It is weakness when you think you are weak. and when you don't balance it with loving and fearless strength.
2007-06-20 08:32:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
in the context of an 'eat or be eaten' world? yes. but the reality of life isn't that simple. empathy is a much a comfort for the wounded as for the empathizer. it allows him/her to feel more 'human/e'
2007-06-20 08:29:46 · answer #8 · answered by art_child2000 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No.
Freddy Nietszche is a marginal philosopher at best. His bombastic theory of the Ubermensch was the ravings of a man with general paresis.
2007-06-20 08:35:39 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, empathy is understanding, and understanding can breed solidarity and strength.
There are kinds of strength beyond being an emotionally invulnerable, isolated uber-mensch.
2007-06-20 08:29:43 · answer #10 · answered by rbanzai 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋